Public acceptability of domestic demand-side response in Great Britain: The role of automation and direct load control

• Published in: Energy research & social science Vol. 9; pp. 72 - 84
• Main Authors: Fell, Michael J., Shipworth, David, Huebner, Gesche M., Elwell, Clifford A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.09.2015
• Subjects: Automation; Demand-side response; Direct load control; Domestic; Smart grids; Time of use tariffs; Direct load control; Time of use tariffs; Automation; Smart grids; Demand-side response; Domestic
• ISSN: 2214-6296; 2214-6326
• DOI: 10.1016/j.erss.2015.08.023

•Representative survey measured acceptability of demand-side response tariffs in Britain.•Thirty per cent strongly/somewhat in favor of switching to static time of use tariff.•Direct load control, with override and tightly bounded, acceptable in principle to many.•Option of automated response made dynamic time of use tariff as acceptable as static. Domestic demand-side response (DSR), if widely adopted, could help make electricity more secure, clean and affordable. However, little is known about consumer demand for different approaches to achieving DSR. This study aimed to gauge the acceptability of a range of DSR tariffs, and explore factors affecting it. An online between-subjects survey experiment was deployed to a representative sample of bill payers in Great Britain (N=2002), testing five tariffs including static/dynamic time of use (TOU) pricing (with/without automated response to price changes) and direct load control (DLC) of heating on a below-average flat rate. The tariff permitting limited DLC of heating was significantly (p<.01) more popular than the TOU tariffs. This was surprising given evidence for concern around loss of control in DLC, and suggests that for many people DLC is acceptable in principle (within tight bounds and with override ability). The option of automated response made dynamic TOU (otherwise the least popular tariff) as acceptable as static TOU. This is important because dynamic TOU offers additional network benefits, while automation can improve duration and reliability of response. The TOU tariffs were rated highly for giving people control over spending on electricity, but other factors were more associated with overall acceptance.